Photo via Twitter / Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks are just one win away from their first NBA title in over half a century, and they looked like true champions on Saturday night.
With the best-of-seven series tied at two games each, Milwaukee was riding high going into Phoenix, where they had dropped the first two games of the Finals in intimidating fashion. That tense environment was certainly there on Saturday, with fans only getting amplified in the first quarter. The Suns stormed out of the gate strong, quickly taking a lead and shooting immaculately from the field. It felt like it was going to be a long night for Milwaukee, as Phoenix jumped out to a 16 point lead to end the first quarter. It was on the Bucks to respond, and they did just that.
An explosive second quarter from Milwaukee saw the team erasing the deficit set by Phoenix in just over four minutes of basketball. Jrue Holiday made his presence felt in the run, with a couple of big baskets, as well as some timely assists on baskets from Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis. While Holiday has been solid for much of the postseason, he hadn’t been at his best during this series so far. That very much changed Saturday, making for one of the most complete games from Milwaukee’s big three. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Holiday would finish with 32, 29 and 27 points respectively. Sharing the ball created for a balanced attack on offense that kept Phoenix chasing open shooters on defense.
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The momentum stayed with Milwaukee coming out of the tunnel for the second half as well, keeping things tight but in the Bucks’ favor early. Another run on offense along with a series of cold shots and turnovers from the Suns gave Milwaukee a 10-point lead going into the final quarter, but there was no sense that the game was in the books. The big three handled much of the scoring, though Pat Connaughton and Brook Lopez showed up in the spots that they needed to. The Bucks would need to keep the pressure on the Suns to get out of the valley with the win.
Nobody said winning a title would be easy, especially on the road, when the home team had taken every game of the series so far. Things remained in Milwaukee’s favor heading into the final minute, though their 10-point lead had been chipped down to just three. A Chris Paul layup would reduce it to one point with 56 seconds left on the clock, and Jrue Holiday would step up to make another historic moment for the Bucks. Turnovers have plagued the Suns in this series, but quick hands from Holiday ripped the ball from Devin Booker, and in transition, Holiday found Giannis for an alley-oop that would emphatically seal the game for the Bucks by a final of 123-119. Milwaukee will head home for game six of the series to a raucous crowd downtown, on the momentum of three straight wins, including a necessary road win to lead them towards a title.
Milwaukee is now very much in the driver’s seat, with game six tipping off from Fiserv Forum on Tuesday night at 8 p.m., airing nationally on ABC. The Bucks have two opportunities to win one game, and will hopefully only need one of them. In any instance, the Larry O’Brien trophy will be in Fiserv Forum on Tuesday night, and it’s up to the Bucks to keep it there.
Fans clamored to Downtown Milwaukee en masse for the road game on Saturday, with not only a sold out watch party inside Fiserv Forum, but a capacity crowd at Deer District, leading to fans being turned away for the first time in the postseason. Those large crowds will likely once again flood Deer District on Tuesday, with a chance to seal the Bucks’ first title in 50 years at home, in six, as has been the motto for several years. Fans can get all of the information about the Bucks’ playoff parties on the Bucks website.
